Corporate Employee × NPO × Research × Street Ukulele Performances?
Takuya Kagata’s Approach to Work

Now that there is no single “right” way to work,
It’s not uncommon for people to be active in multiple spheres rather than limiting themselves to a single job title. In this series, we’ll visit people who are embracing new ways of working and living to hear the stories behind their choices.

For the first installment, we spoke with Takuya Kagata. While working as a Business Design Director at Dentsu Inc., he is also active in multiple spheres, including performing ukulele street performances, volunteering with an NPO, and conducting research at a university.

At first glance, these activities may seem unrelated. But as we spoke with him, it became clear that each one is connected by a common thread that is uniquely “Kagata.”

I Intended Dentsu Inc. to Be Just a Stepping Stone

Kagata: I really just thought of Dentsu Inc. as a “stepping stone.”

Right after we met, Mr. Kagata said something a bit unexpected.
Kagata studied development economics in college and had considered working for the United Nations or JICA. He also did an internship with an NGO working in rural areas of India and Indonesia.

Kagata: “To be honest, when I first received a job offer from Dentsu Inc., I planned to stay for six or seven years and then move on. Since my ultimate goal was to work for the United Nations or JICA, I viewed the private sector simply as a place to gain hands-on business experience before that.”

A woman from Sarajevo whom she met during her college years influenced that way of thinking.

Kagata: Having lived through a civil war, she was involved in an inter-ethnic reconciliation program at the UN. Instead of having adults talk directly to one another, the program had children go hiking and cook together. This made the adults realize, “It’s strange that the children are getting along, but the adults aren’t.” I was struck by that clever, almost “tonchi”-like idea.

I came to realize that changing society isn’t just about systems or money. By shifting perspectives and relationships, we might be able to solve problems. That’s why I chose Dentsu Inc., a communications agency, to learn more about this.

I intended it to be just a stepping stone, but before I knew it, I’d been there for over 20 years.
Looking back, perhaps the people I met and the work I did during that time are what took me to all those different places.

Envisioning the future by day, hopping from bar to bar by night

Mr. Kagata’s main job at Dentsu Inc. is to work with companies to envision their “unseen future.” While supporting new business ventures and product development, he works backward from the question, “What kind of company do you want to be in 10 years?” to determine what needs to be done now.

Kagata: I spend about 4 to 5 hours a month supporting the NPO and play the ukulele on the street about 2 or 3 times a month. My main job is definitely my priority; the other activities just happen around that.

In recent years, Mr. Kagata has also been working on expanding the “Dentsu Inc. Future Mandala” project with members overseas.

Kagata: I’m not great at English, but I figured with AI, I might be able to manage, so I just dove right in (laughs).
When you’ve grown up in the same world of advertising and marketing, there’s a strange way in which that sense of “That part should be like this, right?” comes across, even across language barriers. Creating something together while sharing that same feel with people far away—I absolutely love that.

And when night falls, Kagata slings his ukulele over his shoulder and heads to a bar.

“Nagashi” refers to a cultural tradition where musicians visit bars with their instruments and play songs requested by customers. Kagata belongs to the “Heisei Nagashi Association,” which carries this tradition into the modern era, and he makes the rounds at bars in Ueno, Yurakucho, and other areas two or three times a month.

What got Mr. Kagata started on “nagashi” was the ukulele, which he’d been playing all along. Influenced by his music-loving father, he began playing the guitar in high school, and later, drawn to the culture of the South Seas that he loved, he also became familiar with the ukulele.

“I want to get good enough to play at bars on weekends someday,”

It was while he was talking about this that a friend from an NPO introduced him to the Heisei Street Musicians’ Association—and that’s how he first encountered street music.
On this day as well, Mr. Kagata glanced around the bar and suddenly began to play.
At first, the young customers were a bit hesitant, but as soon as the music started, their expressions naturally softened.
Before he knew it, the atmosphere in the shop had shifted slightly.

Kagata: “The most important rule is not to disrupt the business. I don’t go in when the place is full, and if I play after customers have paid their bill, it might make them linger too long. If I play before orders are placed, it can slow down the service. And if the energy gets too high, it might bother other customers, so I wrap things up at just the right moment by saying, ‘Excuse me.’” Since there aren’t any strict, set rules, I place great importance on “reading the room.”

Mr. Kagata believes that, precisely because we live in this era, things that can only be experienced in person—like the atmosphere and the scent of a place—have become all the more important.

Kagata: “I believe that a one-night-only sense of unity—something that isn’t recorded in data—is a value that only people can create.”

That’s surely the same reason he’s drawn to the sink. People are physically present, sharing time while sensing the atmosphere. He seemed to find fascination in that kind of physical interaction.

Creating a Place to Belong Outside the Company

Around his fourth year at the company, Mr. Kagata launched a study group with a friend from his college days to support NPOs with communication and marketing. One day, while conducting interviews with various NPOs, he was told, “Stop just listening—come help us out.” That prompted him to actually get involved in providing support.

Kagata: “Okay,” I said, and when we formed a team to help out, they were incredibly grateful. That eventually evolved into an NPO, and here we are today. Over the past 15 years or so, we’ve worked with 60 organizations and more than 350 volunteers in total.

A major benefit of this experience was being able to collaborate with people I wouldn’t have met through my regular advertising work. When you work with people from different industries, you gain insight into how they approach their work and the “quirks” of their industry. These are things I wouldn’t have noticed if I’d only interacted with people from the same company or industry.

What I Discovered After a Major Setback

Mr. Kagata has found his place in various settings. However, his journey hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing.

Kagata: In marketing planning, responsibilities are often divided between strategy (strategy formulation) and creative. I was in charge of strategy. Unless I first presented a strategy that convinced my team members, the entire team couldn’t move forward.

Amid all this, on one particular project, my own inadequacy prevented me from meeting the client’s requests, and I was removed from the assignment. After a senior “super planner” stepped in at the last minute to cover for me, that project—which I’d left in disarray—began to move forward rapidly.

I felt out of place and could only watch from the sidelines. I really loved that project… I was so depressed I couldn’t focus on anything else, and honestly, I think I lost sight of my own worth.

I’m told there was a period afterward when I was adrift, without any work. But at that lowest point, Ms. Kagata discovered a different way of working.

Kagata: “I continued to lack confidence in my work for a while after that, but there was a project where I received a lot of praise for designing and facilitating workshops—something I’d always been good at. I began to think that perhaps there was another way for me to contribute: not by devising strategies on my own, but by designing projects where people from different backgrounds could enjoy discussing ideas and arrive at good solutions together.”

Kagata says that every time she takes on a new project, she reads dozens of books. It was around this time that a colleague told her, “You really love studying, don’t you?” and she realized that this might actually be one of her strengths.

Kagata: “As a strategy formulation expert, to be honest, there are many people I can’t compete with. But I’ve come to believe that rather than fighting on a playing field where I can’t win, I should shine somewhere else.”

I approach my work with the intention of designing the entire project so that each person’s uniqueness becomes a source of strength, and of doing my best to prepare and bring my own hypotheses to the table in order to draw out insights that no single person could come up with on their own.

Sometimes, combinations that are hard to see when you’re confined to a single community become visible precisely because you’re involved in multiple different settings. It’s said that when people and ideas that wouldn’t normally intersect come together, it can lead to unexpected breakthroughs.

Continuing to Dive into Unknown Worlds

I felt that all of the activities Mr. Kagata continues to pursue share a common thread: “proactively diving into unknown worlds.”

One example of this was when he went back to graduate school at the University of Tokyo in his 40s to study urban engineering.

Kagata: What I found interesting about graduate school was that it brought together people who didn’t have a single “mutual friend” on social media. As you get older, you might have about 50 mutual acquaintances to bond with, but ultimately, that just means you’re trapped in an “echo chamber” of relationships. That’s why I make a conscious effort to step outside that circle.

Whether it’s academia or the professional world, I try to dive into a world I’ve never experienced before about once every six or seven years. I feel that maintaining that mindset enriches the way I see the world. Next, I’m thinking of going to a comedy school or an art college. I’ve already looked into the tuition (laughs).

For Mr. Kagata, graduate school wasn’t just a place to acquire knowledge. He met people who attended night classes while working, and the number of people he respected grew. He said that this experience itself adds richness to his life.

You don’t need just one place to belong

Finally, Mr. Kagata shared this with us.

Kagata: Rather than making myself the center of attention… I want to create a space—like a great pub—where all kinds of people feel, “I want to go there.” A place where, when you come, you can hear all sorts of stories, open up, and talk about a fun future. That’s the kind of place I want to create.

A short while after the interview, I received a message from Mr. Kagata.

Message After the Interview
“Wow—thank you so much. I was reflecting on it on the train ride home, thinking what a happy evening it was to have someone listen to me so intently.”

Somehow, I thought that was so typical of Mr. Kagata.
What really stuck with me from the interview was the depth of his gratitude toward people and his work. He naturally brought up stories about those who’ve helped him along the way, and he repeatedly expressed his appreciation for being entrusted with tasks. Rather than focusing on how he could excel personally, he was always thinking about how he could be of service to this community. That perspective felt consistent throughout.

You don’t have to have just one place to belong.

Whether inside or outside the company, she gradually increases the number of places where she can contribute in her own way. Perhaps it’s this accumulation of small steps that has shaped Ms. Kagata’s approach to work.
Next time, I’ll visit someone else who is living and working in their own unique way to hear their story.

	Interviewee Ayaka Sugimoto Editing, Writing, Photography
Works in public relations at Dentsu Japan. In her personal life, she moved from Kanagawa to Okinawa. “There should be more variety in both how we work and how we live.” Inspired by this belief, I’ve started this series. I’ll visit people I’d like to meet and conduct in-depth interviews with them.